Auschwitz

Quick Facts

Location: Oświęcim, occupied Poland
Operational: 1940 - 1945
Type: Concentration, extermination and forced labor camp complex
Main camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Auschwitz III-Monowitz
Victims: More than 1.1 million
Liberated: 27 January 1945
Known for: Largest Nazi camp complex and central site of the Holocaust

Origins and Construction

The establishment of Auschwitz was a direct consequence of the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Following the occupation, thousands of Polish political opponents, intellectuals, resistance members and other people considered enemies of the Reich were arrested by the German authorities. Local prisons quickly became overcrowded, creating the need for a new detention facility within occupied Poland.

Initially, Auschwitz was intended to serve as a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners and as a transit camp for prisoners awaiting deportation to established German concentration camps such as Dachau and Sachsenhausen. The temporary closure of parts of the Dachau concentration camp for SS training purposes further increased the need for additional prisoner accommodation.

In December 1939, Richard Glücks, Inspector of Concentration Camps, proposed the creation of a new concentration camp in occupied Poland. The idea received support from Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. During the following months, the SS examined several possible locations before selecting Oświęcim. The town already contained former Polish Army barracks and military facilities that could be converted relatively cheaply into a concentration camp.

The first transport arrived at Auschwitz on 20 May 1940. It consisted of 30 German criminal prisoners transferred from Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Carefully selected by the SS, these prisoners were assigned supervisory duties and many later served as Kapos.

The first large transport of prisoners arrived on 14 June 1940, when 728 Polish political prisoners were deported from Tarnów prison to Auschwitz. They were forced to expand the camp, construct new buildings and erect the extensive barbed-wire fencing that would eventually surround the complex. Building materials were often scarce during these early months, and much of the work was carried out under harsh conditions by the prisoners themselves.

At first, Auschwitz was planned within the framework of the existing German concentration camp system and was intended to hold around 10.000 prisoners. By the end of April 1940, however, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler had already spoken of the need for new waves of mass arrests against the Polish elite. Some prisoners were executed immediately, while others were sent to camps. Auschwitz was therefore expanded to accommodate up to 30.000 prisoners.

The history of Auschwitz can broadly be divided into two phases. From 1940 until the first months of 1942, it functioned primarily as a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners and other inmates. From 1942 until late 1944, Auschwitz continued to function as a concentration camp but also became the largest center for the immediate mass murder of Jews deported there as part of the Nazi Final Solution.

Maximilian Kolbe and the Ultimate Sacrifice in Block 11

At the end of July 1941, Auschwitz Lagerführer Karl Fritzsch implemented a brutal policy of collective punishment following the escape of a prisoner. In retaliation, Fritzsch selected ten hostages from the inmates of Block 14, condemning them to death by starvation in the underground bunker of Block 11. During the selection, a Polish Franciscan friar named Maximilian Kolbe (prisoner number 16670) stepped forward and volunteered to take the place of Franciszek Gajowniczek (prisoner number 5659), who had broken down in tears fearing he would never see his wife and children again. After a brief exchange, Fritzsch accepted the substitution, reportedly after learning that Kolbe was a Catholic priest.

The ten condemned men were taken to the starvation cells of Block 11. While Gajowniczek survived the war and lived until 1995, Father Kolbe remained in the bunker for nearly two weeks.

After nearly two weeks, the SS guards administered lethal injections of carbolic acid to the four remaining prisoners. Witnesses later recalled that Kolbe calmly raised his left arm and awaited the injection.

Maximilian Kolbe died on 14 August 1941.

His body was cremated the following day, 15 August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. For his extraordinary act of self-sacrifice, Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II in October 1982. Today he remains one of the most widely known victims of Auschwitz and a symbol of courage and humanity in the face of unimaginable brutality.

The first Zyklon B experiments

In August 1941, SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, deputy commandant of Auschwitz, conducted the first known Zyklon B gassing experiments in the basement of Block 11. The tests, carried out on Soviet prisoners of war and sick inmates, convinced the camp leadership that Zyklon B could be used for mass killing and paved the way for the later extermination facilities at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Map of the area around the main Auschwitz camps

Auschwitz I - The Main Camp

Auschwitz I, also known as the Stammlager or main camp, was the original camp established by the SS in Oświęcim. It was created in former Polish military barracks and became the administrative center of the entire Auschwitz complex. The camp originally consisted of 22 pre-war Polish military brick barracks. Over time, it expanded in both size and function. Auschwitz I contained prisoner barracks, SS offices, punishment blocks, execution areas, workshops and the infamous Block 11, known as the death block.

In the early years, Auschwitz I held mainly Polish political prisoners, but its prisoner population later included Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma, resistance members, prisoners from occupied Europe and others targeted by the Nazi regime. The name Auschwitz was the Germanized name for Oświęcim. Over time, the name became associated not only with the original camp, but with the entire system of camps, subcamps, forced labor sites and extermination facilities built and operated by the SS in the surrounding area.

Auschwitz II - Birkenau

Auschwitz II-Birkenau was built near the village of Brzezinka, known in German as Birkenau. Construction began in October 1941. It became the largest part of the Auschwitz complex and the main site of mass extermination. Original plans involved the use of Soviet prisoners of war to build the camp. Around 10.000 Soviet POWs were brought to the area, including men transferred from camps such as Neuhammer am Queis and Lamsdorf. Many died from starvation, disease, exhaustion and brutal treatment.

Birkenau was initially planned partly as a camp for prisoners of war, but from 1942 it became a central killing site for Jews deported from across German-occupied Europe. Cattle trains brought people from countries including Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Slovakia, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and others. Most victims deported to Birkenau were murdered shortly after arrival in the gas chambers. Others were selected for forced labor and endured starvation, overcrowding, disease, violence and constant fear of selection and death.

Auschwitz III - Monowitz

Auschwitz III-Monowitz was established near the village of Monowice, known in German as Monowitz. It developed as a forced labor camp connected to the industrial ambitions of IG Farben. Construction of the industrial site began in 1941. IG Farben planned to build a large synthetic rubber and fuel plant known as Buna-Werke. The company reached agreements with the SS to use prisoners from Auschwitz as forced laborers at very low cost.

Local Polish residents were expelled from the area, and Jewish residents and some Polish families were driven from their homes. Property was confiscated and repurposed to support the industrial complex and its workforce. Prisoners at Monowitz were subjected to exhausting labor, poor nutrition, violence and deadly working conditions. Those who became too weak or ill to work were often sent back to Auschwitz I or Birkenau, where many were killed by lethal injection, in the gas chambers or through neglect and abuse.

Life in the Camp

Life in Auschwitz was shaped by hunger, exhaustion, fear, humiliation and violence. Prisoners were stripped of their personal belongings, shaved, registered and often tattooed with prisoner numbers. They were forced into overcrowded barracks and subjected to a brutal system of discipline and punishment. Food rations were deliberately inadequate. Prisoners suffered from starvation, disease, cold, poor sanitation and relentless forced labor. Beatings and executions were common. The SS used prisoners as labor, but also treated them as disposable.

Different prisoner groups were marked by colored triangles and other symbols. These included Jews, Polish political prisoners, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexual prisoners, so-called asocial prisoners and others persecuted by Nazi Germany. Survival often depended on chance, physical condition, work assignment, access to food, the help of other prisoners and the constantly changing decisions of the SS.

Colors of the badges for concentration camp prisoners

The Selection Process

The selection process was one of the most terrifying features of Auschwitz-Birkenau. When deportation trains arrived at the camp, prisoners were forced from the wagons and divided by SS doctors and officers. Those considered fit for forced labor were sent into the camp. Those judged unfit, including many children, elderly people, mothers with young children, sick prisoners and disabled people, were sent directly to the gas chambers.

SS doctors such as Josef Mengele took part in selections. Mengele also became infamous for medical experiments, especially on twins, children and people with dwarfism. For many deportees, the selection ramp was the moment that determined immediate life or death. Families were separated within minutes, often without understanding what was about to happen.

Gas Chambers and Crematoria

Most victims murdered at Auschwitz were killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The SS used Zyklon B, a cyanide-based pesticide originally used for delousing and pest control. The first experimental gassings at Auschwitz took place in Block 11 of Auschwitz I in 1941, when Soviet prisoners of war and Polish prisoners were murdered using Zyklon B. The experiment was carried out under SS supervision and helped lead to the later development of mass gassing procedures at Birkenau.

At Birkenau, gas chambers and crematoria were built to murder large numbers of people and dispose of their bodies. Victims were often told they were going to take showers, a deception designed to prevent panic and resistance.

The bodies of the murdered were burned in crematoria or open-air pits. Prisoners forced to work in the gas chambers and crematoria were known as Sonderkommando. Their work was one of the most horrific roles imposed on prisoners in the camp.

Resistance and Escape Attempts

Despite the extreme danger, prisoners resisted in many ways. Resistance included sharing food, preserving religious and cultural life, documenting crimes, sabotaging work, organizing underground networks and attempting escape. More than 800 prisoners are known to have attempted escape from Auschwitz. Some succeeded, while many were captured and executed. Escape attempts often led to brutal reprisals against other prisoners.

One of the most important acts of resistance was the Sonderkommando uprising on 7 October 1944. Prisoners assigned to the crematoria attacked SS guards and destroyed part of Crematorium IV. The revolt was ultimately crushed, and many participants were killed. Other prisoners, including members of the underground resistance inside the camp, smuggled information to the outside world and helped document the crimes being committed at Auschwitz.

Liberation

As the Soviet Red Army approached Auschwitz in January 1945, the SS evacuated most of the remaining prisoners. Tens of thousands were forced onto death marches toward other camps in the west. Many died from cold, exhaustion, starvation or shootings along the way. On 27 January 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz. They found around 7.000 surviving prisoners, many of them sick, starving and near death. They also discovered evidence of mass murder, including warehouses of victims' belongings.

The date of liberation, 27 January, is now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

After the war, survivors such as Primo Levi, Viktor Frankl and Elie Wiesel wrote about their experiences, helping the world understand the horror of Auschwitz and the Holocaust.

Victims

More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz. The vast majority were Jews deported from across German-occupied Europe. Auschwitz became the largest killing center of the Holocaust. The victims also included tens of thousands of non-Jewish Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war and people from many other countries and groups persecuted by Nazi Germany.

Many victims were murdered immediately after arrival. Others died from starvation, forced labor, disease, executions, medical experiments, beatings and the general brutality of camp life. The scale of the victims makes Auschwitz one of the central symbols of the Holocaust and Nazi genocide.

Approximate victim groups at Auschwitz:

• Jews: approximately 1.000,.000
• Polish prisoners: approximately 70.000 - 75.000
• Roma and Sinti: approximately 21.000
• Soviet prisoners of war: approximately 15.000
• Others: approximately 10.000 - 15.000

Eyewitness stories

To learn more about the people imprisoned and murdered at Auschwitz, read some of the personal stories preserved on Normandy1944.info. These eyewitness accounts help illustrate the human impact behind the statistics.

• Dario Gabbai
• Robert Cohen
• Lotty Veffer
• Hartog Kalkoene

Commandants

The first and most infamous commandant of Auschwitz was Rudolf Höss, who played a central role in the development of the camp as a site of mass murder. Höss later testified about the workings of Auschwitz after the war and was executed at the former camp site in 1947. Other senior SS personnel served in command and administrative roles throughout the camp complex. The SS system relied not only on commandants, but also on guards, doctors, administrators, labor managers and companies that benefited from forced labor.

Only a minority of Auschwitz SS personnel were ever brought to trial after the war. Around 789 SS personnel connected to Auschwitz stood trial, representing only a small fraction of those who served in the camp system.

Legacy

After the war, Auschwitz became one of the most important symbols of the Holocaust. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was founded in 1947 on the site of the former camp, and in 1979 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Auschwitz is preserved as a memorial, museum and place of education. It stands as evidence of Nazi crimes and as a warning about the consequences of antisemitism, racism, dictatorship, dehumanization and genocide.

The question of why the Allies did not bomb Auschwitz or the railway lines leading to it remains historically controversial. Reports about mass murder reached the outside world during the war, but the response was limited and remains debated by historians.

Today, Auschwitz remains one of the most visited and most studied sites connected to the Second World War. Its history is central to understanding the Holocaust and the human consequences of Nazi ideology.